Accountability Summary (+ Makeup Inventory)

In reviewing my post history, I realized that I’ve never once posted an annual summary of my Lo-Buy / No-Buy accountability.

These are all of my accountability posts from 2017.

And I think I know why… because I’m a sneaky cheat! 😛

Let’s rewind a little. If you’ve followed my blog since the early days, you’ll know that this blog started out as a full-on, hardcore No-Buy for an entire year in 2015. It seemed quite black and white, right? Don’t buy makeup for 365 days, Stashy! 🙄

Fast forward to 2016 and 2017. I’ll group both years together as I think my behaviour was similar both years. I was finally loosening the reins and allowed to BUY! In 2016, I was on a Low-Buy all year, whereas in 2017 I did a hybrid of Low- and No-Buy; January was the special month of “Hauluary” where I had no spending restrictions. Here’s what my monthly budgets were for each month for the 2 years:Source: 2016 New Focus and 2017 New Focus

I should clarify here that my No-Buys and Low-Buys have more to do with not adding to my already large makeup collection, rather than curbing spending overall. It’s a nice side effect to save money but it’s not my primary goal. I was seriously running out of space in our condo with all of my beauty products squirreled away in closets, under the bed, and even in the living room! 😮

Let’s see how I actually fared:
One of the biggest loopholes I had in 2016 and 2017 was that makeup purchased during vacations didn’t count… and as you can imagine, I took advantage of that! (in Japan and on the cruise) 😆 And let’s be real, the months of January and December – I never did tally up what I bought due to Hauluary and holiday spending. But at minimum, I spent $500 each month. That’s basically doubling my full year spend in just those 2 months! I totally failed my 2016 Low-Buy but I showed improvement in 2017.

Did you read about the report in early 2017, that found US women spend $300,000 on makeup and skincare over their lifetime?
They estimated that on average, American women consume between $3.50 – $11 per day of skincare and makeup on their face. It depends on what region of America the women live – I would say Toronto is most similar to New York so let’s say that my daily consumption is $11. That would mean I’m spending $4,015 a year on makeup and skincare! 😮 Since my Low- and No-Buy was more focused on tallying makeup purchases, if I include skincare; I don’t think I’m too far off that figure!

Hauluary! ❤

This view only shows my accountability in dollars and as I mentioned, this isn’t about money – so let’s have a look at the actual count of my makeup collection over the 3 years that I’ve been blogging. I based my initial count on this post I made in my first month of blogging, and went through all of my hauls, accountability, Trash Stash, and purge posts (with reference to the tracking in my inventory spreadsheet) to arrive at the current count. I included all items that I bought, was given as gifts, redeemed with points, Back to MAC for, won in giveaways, or bought on vacation – i.e. everything! I’ve broken the count by product category and with trending from the beginning of 2015 to present day:

Eye ShadowsN.B.: I count individual eye shadow pans, so a quad is counted not as 1 eye shadow, but 4.

Base Products

Blushes
Check out the steady increase here… I just love blushes. 😳

Lip Products
I’m pretty pleased with halving my lip stash. 😀

Nail Polish
I had good intentions to purge more of my nail polishes and I still intend to!

Brushes

Year by year view of all categories:
Of the 6 categories that I tracked, 3 of them decreased: base makeup (foundations, concealers, and powders), lip products (lipsticks, glosses, and balms), and makeup brushes. The 3 categories that increased over the years should come as no surprise: eye shadows, blushes, and nail polishes. Those just happen to be my favourite makeup items. 😉

Nerd enough for ya? 🤓 So what’s the final verdict?

I love to shop for new makeup. 😇 #captainobvious

In my three-pronged approach to reducing my makeup stash – 1) stop / limit buying more 2) use up what I have, and 3) purge what I don’t use – buying is my first line of defense. I’m never going to stop buying makeup – that’s just a given. 😛 I’m more mindful of what I already own now and if I’m going to buy something new, something old has to be purged! (I plan to tackle nail polishes and blushes soon) The long term view is to have less coming in and more going out to gradually reduce my overall stash. I don’t have any spending limits for myself this year per se, but laying it all out here I do see a natural trend – I tend to curb my spending for Spring / Summer months and ramp up in the Fall / Winter. And if there’s one thing I’ve taken away with me from the blog with all the hauling, panning, trashing, and purging – the cycle never ends! 😉

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71 thoughts on “Accountability Summary (+ Makeup Inventory)”

So impressive! I don’t do makeup inventories. I just keep my products in my storage and ensure it doesn’t grow out of it. I purge when things get too crazy. Only problem is that I have created more storage since the move.

I swore to myself that I will NOT expand my storage. What I have is what I have. This is especially true for my nail polishes since I keep them in air tight bins – I refuse to buy more… so that means many of my polishes live inside plastic bags now. 😛

Haha, I don’t even want to go back my last year’s resolutions because of the same reason😂 But I have to say that I didn’t buy that much make up in 2017 (in comparison with 2016, it was maybe half or even less).

Hahaha I love the positive correlation for blush! I think it’s the happy effect of blushes – it’s always attractive to buy blush in my opinion – who doesn’t want to look healthy and glowing?! Although I do have friends who hate blush and don’t want to look like a clown!

I don’t have a makeup inventory per se. I have a desk drawer for my makeup storage organised using small baskets, as well as acrylic storage on my desk for my daily/easy-to-reach stash. I have another drawer (top drawer of my chest of drawers) that has some miscellaneous things like unopened skincare, wax strips, konjac sponges etc. In a way, this is not much storage but I think more than I can ever use. I just have to control that what I buy won’t grow out of these drawers.

I cannot believe how my blush collection has grown! And the sad thing is that I cannot think of which ones to let go… I honestly love them all! ❤

I wished all my makeup was contained in a more centralized manner. Right now all of my "in-use" makeup are in my spare bedroom closet. And I have unopened items scattered in my main bedroom closet and under the bed, and some in baskets in the living room (we have the Ikea shelving units with pull out baskets there) It's good to have a desk at the very least… I want a "battle station"!

Not going to lie seriously geeking out at all your charts. They were so fun to read! Girl I love how you track everything! That is serious goals right there! I am horrible, because more then make-up I spend a lot on skincare, but because it is skincare it doesn’t count. Uh-oh lol. ❤

This is so fascinating! YAY charts! I’m so impressed you keep a makeup inventory, especially when you own SO many products – well done!
I find it interesting that the two products you had a lot to begin with (eye shadows and nail polish) increased over the last three years, while the other categories that you own less of decreased (except for blushes).

I just noticed that I never responded to your comment? (who rude of me, and after I’d posted my do’s and dont’s list! 😆 )
Tracking my makeup helps me not duplicate things (especially nail polish colours) and try to see on a more rational level just how much I do have. I do also make notes about how I like certain items like skincare so I won’t repurchase something – in case I fall into the hype in the future! 😛
That’s an interesting observation… I have every intention to cull my nail polishes but not as much focus on eye shadows – not sure why! 😳

Haha! It happens to be best of us!
Oooh yes, when you own a large quantity of makeup (eg your nail polish stash), it would be very difficult to remember which ones you already own. Do you have the list available on your phone, then, so you see it when you’re out and about shopping?

I have included a value column in my empties spreadsheet for any full size items to see at the end of the year. I’m including anything that can be bought at a certain size in the count – but I can’t quite decide how to divide things up if it came in a multi-pack or set or something, but I’m really intrigued to see what that end of year figure is going to be!

I’d love to do a full inventory like this. Our house is going on the market in the next couple of weeks and when we move (and I invest in better storage at that point), I think it might be a good time to do it. I did purge a lot of stuff already – I think that letting go is really hard, especially when you know you’ve spent your money on it, but I can imagine just how much space this stuff this would take up.]

I’m not surprised you have so many blushes – you love them but they’re also so hard to finish up. I think I’ve only finished two in four years of empties. The one thing I didn’t purge any of from ‘my overflow’ a couple of weeks ago was blushes – but all I had did fit into one old My Little box, so I don’t feel too guilty about hanging onto them!

I’m guessing my biggest category would be eyeshadow if we’re adding up every pan… that’s something I now want to count up. I have no idea what my current polish count is, they’re so scattered in different storage areas I have one box of ‘stuff I’d like to review/is new’, ones that have been reviewed and then ones I have no plans to review… I should be able to get rid of most of those because if I don’t even want to wear them to review… why do I have them, I can’t remember a time I last went in the cupboard those are in to grab a polish!

I saw a book where someone had photographically inventoried his whole house including his wardrobe. I’d LOVE to do that! It’s also a good record for insurance purposes too. 😉

Yes, of all the products I own, blushes are the most difficult to finish up. Right now I cannot think of a single blush that I want to get rid of but I’m just going to have to be ruthless… I re-homed a few of the blushes from my latest round and my friends were super happy. So I’ll probably do that.

See, since you are a big palette collector, I bet your per pan count is super high. Me, I’m not a fan of palettes at all and probably own less than 10. I have a LOT of single shadows.

I started a tracker for my nail polishes of which ones I haven’t worn so that I can get to them. And then I note down if I like it or not and what to keep… this is how I’m hoping to whittle down my 800 bottles… 😮

The graphs you made are neat, did it take you long to make them? I don’t keep a makeup inventory but maybe I should start, what program did you use to create yours and how do you track items? Do you have a post on that?

I own more lipsticks than anything which I’m okay with because I like bold, bright colours and I do make an effort to rotate through them and use them fairly. Of course there are favourites I use more often but everyone has those 😛

No, the graphs didn’t take long. Just collecting the data and validating them took time. I just use Excel. You can even use the built-in Google Sheets to build one:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/

I keep an inventory of nail polish and all my body care stuff because I buy those most 😛 I think I need to do some sort of serious accounting of my body care so I don’t keep ending up with 40 lotions to use up (no joke, I probably have close to that amount :O ). I have been making every other year a no-buy for bar soap and that’s actually worked, perhaps I need to do the same for other things…

I am so jealous of people that can let go of their nail polish! Pretty sure if I graphed my collection, it would look like a global average temperature chart… rising, rising, rising! At some point I’ll be able to let go… probably, maybe?

I used to not get rid of nail polishes because they really don’t go bad. But, now I realize that I have lots that are so similar – I get rid of ones where the formula isn’t stellar. Maybe that’s how you can approach it? A battle of polishes…

When I get to that point, I think the color battle is a great idea for some shades (such a browns) that I really don’t wear/like much anyway. Maybe I could start with those hues and then move on to the precious blues and greens… :]

Wow! I love your charts! You weren’t kidding on insta when you said you nerded out!

I think it’s great you inventoried everything, it really puts it into perspective. I think it was a good that your stash decreased in some categories so way to go! I like approach of purging an item if you buy a new one, that’s a great way to keep your collection from growing too much.

Last year I increased my makeup buying habits, so this year I’m trying to take it easy and use what I have. All my makeup is stored under my bed for now but it’s slowly creeping into other areas of my condo so I’ve started pushing myself to use it or lose it (donate, give to friends, toss). I don’t keep an inventory but I have a lot of eyeshadow. That’s my makeup weakness.

I feel like lipsticks are most makeup addict’s vice. I just don’t use them enough to justify buying them – I’m one of those people who apply lipstick in the morning and then after I drink coffee and eat, I forget to reapply for the rest of the day. 😛

Oh Stashy… this is epic!
It was awesome to read that you had your stash squirreled away almost everywhere. But I think I’m worse. I have beauty stuff and toiletries in every room. I have 3 separate stashes in my kitchen alone… it’s bad!!

And yes, the cycle never ends! Testing, buying, hoarding, smelling, using and throwing out all sorts of products may not be a mission in life (although…), and it may not be something one can discuss with co-workers (OMG, just the thought of it…), but it is some sort of a hobby, and it may also qualify as a lifestyle choice! So… it is what it is!

That makes sense you’d want to always wear lipstick and liner to correct your lip pigment. I have NO lower lash hairs at all and I always have to wear a taupey liner to create an illusion of a lash line. 😆

I think I tried putting myself on a no buy ban once or twice… back when I had credit cards and a very large income — it DID NOT WORK AT ALL. Never mind that I JUST got into makeup and I didn’t know a damn thing about what I was doing but hey YouTuber’s like this product SO I’D GET IT lol! Now ten years alter I still have the product back home in CA but I don’t think it’s good anymore.

In a way I think it’s good I now found holy grail’s in those years because I stick to things around those products and it definitely helps me not buy certain things I KNOW I won’t use. My boyfriend introduced a challenge for me this year though to find looks/use palettes I don’t normally use and come up with a look every week. Went well… the first week haha. I’m working on it!

I think you’re better off starting fresh – the stuff in CA probably aren’t what your makeup taste is now. I’ve noticed that I’ve shifted a bit in what I like now versus when I first got into makeup.

It’s true – realizing what works for you definitely helps to eliminate the lure of all the new launches. Ooh I like the challenge your boyfriend created for you! I say try it again – maybe do it once a month for a week?

Yes, that’s true too! I mean some stuff I’d still wear but other stuff… I’m wondering why I even bought it or hoarded it for so long lol! Plus as time goes you realize what other brands and formula’s you like better… it’s so crazy. I really wish I had blogged this whole experience from the beginning like I had planned! It woulda been so fun to look back on!

I love the graphs! 😆 Makes me want to do a proper inventory of mine when I’m doing the reorganising. Nail varnish and eyeshadows are definitely my weakness. I can probably count the amount of blushers I have on one hand, the same for base products and I did a recent sort out of makeup brushes but I don’t even want to think about eyeshadows numbers, especially if it’s per pan! 😆 It’s interesting to read and your destashing things always remind me to do it more. When I’ve finished my room and got my makeup storage organised I am definitely going to try to keep on top of my makeup. Though I already have plans for 3 (or 4) Sleek palettes so that’s another 36 (or 48) eyeshadows right there! I’m not that good at this am I?

I figured it was more honest to count each pan of eye shadows – plus, I often depot eye shadows so it makes it more consistent to count them individually. I say start tracking as early as you can so that it doesn’t become this monstrous undertaking (and hoping it curbs the desire to keep buying). Haha Sleek palettes are dangerous because they’re so affordable! But I guess you have to ask yourself if at the end of the day, you’ll really use all the colours in the palette?

My current method of keeping my stash down is keeping certain kinds of products in certain boxes so if my lip products get too much for the box I declutter. It hasn’t really worked with my palettes though, they’ve overflowed theirs! I’ve sort of ended up collecting the sleek ones, I have 14 at the moment 🙊. Though I do end up using almost all of them to dip into so I tend to declutter other palettes first, I think I have about 25 palettes including quads so my individual pans would be pretty high. Add on my pigments and it gets even higher. I always seem to declutter after I get a larger haul so the beginning of the year after Christmas is always a time I go through them. The problem is half the time I realise there are certain colours or palette types I don’t have, I really want a peach one and more pastels as I loved them last summer, so I want to fill those gaps! Is is weird I’m getting excited about making a spreadsheet? 😆

That’s a good system to keep items in check!
Palettes seem to be most people’s weakness – I’m glad that I’m not too into palettes (although I do own quite a few for someone who’s not “into” palettes, I admit!)
It makes sense to declutter after a large haul… although the reverse is dangerous too – since like you said, I then notice gaps in my collection and try to fill them.
Not weird to be excited about making a spreadsheet, because then I’d be weird myself! 😆

I think palettes just seem such good value with some companies and I rarely hit pan with any of them. Also I don’t really know which colours to go for in singles so palettes are just easier. I think palettes are the only thing I really have a lot of, face products I have a handful of each really. One thing I’ve realised is how many palettes I have that include a bit of everything, I’m not sure how I’m going to count them in the spreadsheet. I always get so into planning and organising these things, it’s half the fun! 😆

I like to count individual pans on palettes so if a palette contains a blush, bronzer, highlight, and 6 eye shadow, I will count that as separate items. It helps to be more thorough about what I actually own!

I’ve ended up counting them as separate but having a sub heading total thing of ones in palettes and ones that aren’t, and have a word document with what I’ve kept and what’s in them. This feels very organised and I bet I lose it or forget it for the next declutter!

I love this whole post! Seeing the stash in graphical form is a great way to show how your inventory has shifted, and also hopefully puts into perspective what you do/don’t need more of! I will definitely attempt to do something similar with my stash- I have a large collection in my closet, bath room and hallway closet- I would love to get it down to just one location!

Oh my God you have charts! Hahaha! I thought I was crazy organized! You better believe if I could make charts I would have by now. I really need to do inventory of my own. Because I have so much stuff that I have to use more often. I have a bad habit of using whatever is close by completely forgetting about the rest. As of lately anyway.

I kind of fell into the whole concept of tracking my collection since I found myself repurchasing the same shades of nail polishes. I’m glad I started, now I have a baseline to show the growth or decline of my stash! I hope you’ll start tracking yours too! 😀

O no… see this is why I don’t do that spreadsheet thing. The truth is just too daunting! >_< USD300k in a life time?!?!?!? That's a lot. Although I suspect that you maybe nearer to that already 😛 O, Stashy, only stop if you don't feel good about it any more. xox hugs. Love all those nerdy charts

The truth will set you free! 😆
I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving beauty stuff… maybe I’ll get to a point where I’ll not be as swayed by new stuff? But as long as companies keep discontinuing or reformulating stuff… then I will keep having to SHOP. 😉

You and your charts and graphs make me laugh – my husband likes to do the same thing for “fun” and gets disappointed when I don’t share the same level of enthusiasm for them. #sorrynotsorry

Those stats on the amount of money women spend on makeup in the US are so interesting! Although the numbers don’t really surprise me, for a while I was making VIB Rouge every year which amounts to a minimum of 1,000/year and that’s just at Sephora. I’d also like to know how to spend 3 minutes on my face each day like the Californians – that’s impressive. My most low-maintenance look takes me at least 10 minutes, but I suppose that definition is different for everyone.

My SO also creates charts for “fun” but they involve stock trends and stats for his hockey pool… 🙄

I am not surprised about the amount women spend on beauty products – I don’t think it’s just a function of women spending excessively, but also the COST of beauty products! Maybe I’m just longing for the “good ol days” when drugstore prices were reasonable and there wasn’t such a place like Sephora…

Yes, my no-makeup look takes me at least 15 minutes! I don’t think Californian women are applying makeup so much as just rolling out of bed… 😆

I wanted to say that I was very good in avoiding the makeup aisle last year but sad to say I can’t. Luckily, I will be parting with a few items anytime soon as I’m sending stuff home so my sister, niece and cousins can share and enjoy them too. But your stash if way too crazy. I have been learning how to say NO especially when it’s on sale. I have an angel telling me “do you really need it?” while the other is whispering “yes you might need it, it’s on sale anyway”. LOL
I spend way too much on clothes though more than makeup I guess. 🙂

That’s so great you’re able to send them home – I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to get those items!
It’s so true when faced with a good deal, it is like an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other! 😆
Thank goodness I don’t tend to shop for clothing or accessories as much – I’d be in big trouble!

I need to keep a makeup inventory! I’m horrible! I always forget what I already have! 😂 I’m a huge makeup hoarder and need to declutter a lot! I have so many things not even used! I’m trying to slow down on what I buy. I actually became VIB Rouge in 2017 and will be till the end of this year. Not my most proud moment!

I just found this comment. 😳 I started out the makeup inventory spreadsheet because I was buying the same nail polish shade over and over… so silly (and a sign that I have too much makeup!) I’m consciously trying to NOT be VIB Rouge this year too! Good luck to both of us! 😛

Haha! I’m started to try to get more organized. After seeing everything I have just in my bedroom alone, I should be banned from buying makeup for a very long time lol. Going through stuff and thinking oh I forgot I had this! 😂